Page 116 of Goodbye Note

So if you drew me a map, maybe i’d get back to where i can think without having a thought about You

rave in the bus park

i’ll count my firsts with you

while i count all the time Our skin brushed

every time you touch

makes me lose my breath

Unleash this feeling

THIRTY-FOUR

VARIAN

I almost didn’t believe he was serious, but then his thumb brushed over my head, and I knew I’d chase him to the ends of the earth—even if he kept rejecting me—for just one more minute of this.

“Well?” Arik prompted, like my groans weren’t enough to expose my soul.

“Kiss me again.” Because a part of me wasn’t ready to believe this was real.

He surged forward, crushing his body to mine, eager and hungry, wrestling another breathless moan from my throat. None of the reserve I’d seen before. “Believe me yet?”

“If you keep kissing me like that, I will.”

He flipped open the button on my jeans. “You get more when we’re alone.”

My heart beat erratically, threatening to fly out of my chest. “Whatever you want.”

He paused mid-step back, leveling his chest. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I’ll keep them all.”

“You’re mine forever. No matter what happens.” His words were final. Demanding but also sure.

I wished I had an ounce of his confidence.

“You gonna give me a promise ring with words like that?”

He wore a smug grin, dimples and all. “You dream too small. This, between us, is more than a ring or commitment. It’s everlasting.” I knew he believed every word he said. He wasn’t the type to speak without cause.

My heart ached as he took my hand and lead me to the back lounge.

“Koa, that you?”

“Hey, get out,” the woman said.

“You get out. What are you doing on my bus?” Arik replied with an authority that went straight to my dick.

They left in a frantic rush, barely grabbing their shed clothes.

“How’d you know it wasn’t Hael or Ser?” I asked, not sure what to do or say as Arik closed and locked the door.

He turned on me. “Because I’m pretty sure Hael is fucking Kiernan, and Ser doesn’t do hookups. That leaves Koa, but at his size, he walks a certain way, and I knew it wasn’t him when they stumbled in earlier.”

I nodded, wishing there was more light so I could see his face. “Oh.”

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